​​​​​​​Ciena’s COO Locoh-Donou to leave company

Ciena has not named a replacement for COO and SVP François Locoh-Donou, who will step down from his post in March.

Ciena’s COO and SVP François Locoh-Donou will step down from his post in March following over 15 years with the optical and software vendor.

The vendor has not provided a reason as to why Locoh-Donou is leaving and has not named a replacement.

"For more than fifteen years, François has helped establish Ciena as a market leader, making significant contributions to the company's continued growth and diversification," said Gary B. Smith, president and CEO of Ciena, in a release.

Blitz Week

Register for FierceTelecom Blitz Week - June 15-18

As the telecom industry moves forward in the age of new technology, FierceTelecom Blitz week addresses the questions of how platforms, providers, and more will modernize to keep up with these fast-paced changes and their current status of implementing these changes. Join us June 15-18 to dive deep into the world of telecom transformation.

Prior to becoming COO of Ciena in November 2015, Locoh-Donou held a number of different positions at Ciena. He previously served as VP of Global Products Group; VP and general manager, EMEA; VP of International Sales; and VP of marketing. Locoh-Donou also held various technical and sales management positions at Ciena.

During his long tenure, Locoh-Donou helped drive Ciena through what has been an ongoing transitional time for the company via organic and inorganic growth initiatives where it made large purchases of other strategic assets. Some of these acquisitions included the purchase of Nortel's Metro Ethernet Network unit in 2009, a deal which enhanced Ciena’s Ethernet and optical portfolio.

More recently, Ciena purchased Cyan Networks, boosting the vendor's portfolio of SDN and NFV products. Cyan also helped deepen Ciena’s relationship with CenturyLink, which uses the Cyan software for the telco’s SDN and NFV transition.